The latest in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Battle Revolution, is a game in the vein of Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Colosseum before it. With this in mind, Pokémon Battle Revolution isn't an entirely new concept; however, it has brought in a lot of firsts for the series. Battle Revolution is the first Pokémon game on the Wii, the first Wii game to utilize the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection for online play, and the first Wii game to wirelessly connect to the Nintendo DS.

Basically, Battle Revolution focuses on the combat aspect of the Pokémon series. This means that there isn't going to be any catching or training of those cuddly little critters. Instead, a rental pass will be handed out at the beginning of the game and players will have to rent Pokémon. As the game progresses, more powerful Pokémon will be available to rent out. If that isn't enough, players can always import their Pokémon from Pokémon Diamond or Pearl. Imported Pokémon will be exact copies of their Diamond/Pearl origins, down to the levels, stats, and held items. Importing Pokémon will grant players with an original pass. Both the original pass and the rental pass are used to engage in battles.

"In DS mode, up to four players can battle it out and each player can use their DS as a controller."

Battles are fought in a full 3D environment. The battle interface should be familiar to Diamond/Pearl players, since the set up is exactly the same. There are ten different stadiums, each one with their own rules and challenges. One rule is to have fights level-capped, whereby only pokémon of a certain level may participate. The stadiums themselves can take damage during battle. However, the repercussions of this is still unknown.

The game has three main battle modes: DS, Wi-Fi, and Colosseum. In DS mode, up to four players can battle it out and each player can use their DS as a controller. All players can import a unique set of Pokémon from their Diamond/Pearl save files. Keep in mind, this means that each player must have their own DS and a copy of either Diamond or Pearl for this to work. On the downside, DS battles are limited to four Pokémon per team, rather than the usual maximum of six. Wi-Fi mode brings gamers online and around the world; battle with friends by sharing friend codes, or battle anonymously and engage with total strangers of similar ranking. The Colosseum mode is, in a nutshell, the single player story of the game.

The story is set on the island of Pokétopia, where gamers will play as a trainer who wants to become the best Pokémon trainer there is. To accomplish this goal, each stadium must be conquered in order to gain the title of Pokétopia Master, the highest attainable rank.

Outside of battle, there are some interesting things to take note of. For one, the announcer in the anime series will be lending his voice acting talents to provide color commentary on Pokémon matches. Also, trainers can be fully customized; their names, looks, clothes, etc., can all be modified.

So... let the battles begin! Pokémon Battle Revolution will be shipping to stores on June 25, 2007.